US primary market issuances dropped significantly to $11.5bn vs. $47.9bn in the week prior with Investment grade (IG) corporates issuing $8.2bn of deals while high yield (HY) issuances were at $3.28bn. The largest IG deals included American Express raising $3.5bn via a three-trancher and Anthem Inc raising $1.3bn via a two-trancher. In the HY space, Carvana was the sole issuer. In North America, there were a total of 34 upgrades and 21 downgrades combined across the three major rating agencies last week. LatAm saw $500mn in issuances last week vs. $882mn in the prior week, with Aegea Finance being the sole issuer. In South America, there were 8 upgrades and 5 downgrades across the major rating agencies. EU Corporate G3 issuances stood at $23.5bn vs. $11.3bn in the week prior, led by KfW raising €3bn, Banco Santander raising €2bn and SocGen’s €3bn two-trancher. Across the European region, there were 12 upgrades and 17 downgrades across the three major rating agencies. The GCC G3 region saw no new deals last week. Across the Middle East/Africa region, there were 3 upgrades and 10 downgrades across the three major rating agencies. APAC ex-Japan G3 issuances stood at $5.7bn vs. $12.8bn in the week before. This was led by Mineral Resources’ $1.25bn two-trancher, Mumbai Airport’s $750mn issuance and ST Engineering’s $700mn deal. In the APAC region, there were 6 upgrades and 16 downgrades combined across the three major rating agencies last week.
